These meetings are for Eastside residents only and reservations are requested, but not required. Please call 951.788.3471 to make your reservation. Residents need only to attend one of the four sessions.

These meetings will provide vital information to be used in forming the Community Action Plan component of the HEAL Zone Initiative. The goal of the HEAL Zone is to decrease calorie consumption, increase consumption of healthy food and beverages such as fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking water and increase physical activity in Eastside’s parks, schools, farmers markets and corner stores.

Last January, Riverside County Health Coalition received $1 million from Kaiser Permanente to promote healthy eating and physical activity on the Eastside. Riverside Community Health Foundation is assisting the facilitation of community engagement of residents and partner agencies.

For more information about the Eastside HEAL Zone or Resident Meetings, please contact one of the following people: Ninfa Delgado, Vice President, 951-788-3471, ninfa@rchf.org; Gilbert Espinoza, Public Relations & Outreach Coordinator, 951-788-3471, gilbert@rchf.org or Maricela Cardenas, Program Assistant, 951-788-3471, maricela@rchf.org.

Safe Task Force Assists In Finding Missing Teen Girl In Colorado

RIVERSIDE – A Colorado man has been arrested by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the disappearance of 13-year-old Riverside County girl who met the man online.

On March 29, 2012, the Riverside County SAFE Task Force received information from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible enticement of a child for sexual acts.

The information came from the mother of a 13-year-old girl in the Perris area who said her daughter had been in online contact with a Colorado man who was trying to persuade the underage girl to travel to Colorado.

Because of the threat of the girl possibly traveling to meet the man, SAFE Task Force members immediately contacted the mother. She told investigators that she believed she had the situation under control and would make sure her daughter was not left alone. She then agreed to be interviewed on April 4, 2012. However, the day before that scheduled interview, the girl ran away.

SAFE Task Force members became aware of the girl’s disappearance on April 4, 2012, and immediately reached out to the FBI Office in Riverside for assistance. Through the combined efforts of the SAFE Task Force, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office and FBI offices in Riverside and Colorado, the 13-year-old victim was found and rescued that same day, then returned safely back home.

Authorities in Colorado conducted an investigation and on Jan. 9, 2013, Pueblo County sheriff’s detectives arrested Jim Major Jr., 19, on suspicion of several felonies including sexual assault on a child. It was determined that Major met the girl on Facebook when she was 12 years old and the two had communicated for more than a year. The girl believed that Major was her boyfriend and voluntarily traveled to Colorado to meet him. It is believed that the girl took money for the flight to Colorado from her parents’ bank account without their knowledge.

The SAFE Task Force is a collaboration of multi-disciplined law enforcement agencies including the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County Probation Department, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Department of Justice, and Corona Police Department. Working together in seamless cooperation, SAFE Task Force personnel are focused on the investigation and prevention of Internet crimes against children. For more information on the SAFE Task Force mission and its operations, visit www.rivcosafe.org

Fontana Mayor Warren, City Council Thank Senator Emmerson for Efforts to Restore a Revenue Stream

Fontana - The Mayor and City Council want to publicly thank Senator Bill Emmerson for his efforts to protect public safety dollars for the City of Fontana.

In June 2011, Governor Brown passed a bill (SB 89) to redistribute Vehicle License Fee (VLF) revenue to replace an expired funding source for local law-enforcement grants. A law in 2006, had given new cities or cities with newly annexed areas additional license fee revenue to help pay for public safety services. In recent years, Fontana has annexed thirteen square miles of unincorporated area, in which these extra VLF funds were supporting public safety services for these residents. This shift in revenue resulted in an approximate loss of $700,000 per year. For most cities in California they lost $3.54 per resident. Fontana, since it recently annexed unincorporated areas, lost $7.52 per resident. Fontana has lost double the amount of other cities in the state.

This shift in funds to cities with newly annexed areas was an unintentional consequence of SB 89. Senator Emmerson understanding the need for public safety funding, joint authored a bill (SB1566) to restore vehicle license fee funding for California’s newest cities and cities with newly annexed areas. Unfortunately, this bill was unsuccessful.

Again, Senator Emmerson along with then Senator McLeod authored a second bill SB1098. This bill made it out of the legislature and onto the Governor’s desk and was vetoed by the Governor in September.

Currently in this 2013 legislative session Senator Emmerson has co-authored a third bill with Senator Roth, SB56. This bill will ensure a fair reduction of the VLF for all cities.

“I am very hopeful that this third time is a charm and I am extremely grateful that our Legislators continue to fight for the constituents they represent. This community is very blessed to have loyal and steadfast Legislators,” stated Mayor Warren.

Fontana Police Chief Rodney Jones supports SB56 because it is the “fair and equitable thing to do.” “I appreciate the economic challenges facing our state; however, the disproportionate share of VLF funds lost to this community is unfair to the residents I serve.” “All we are asking is that Fontana’s share of VLF funds is the same as other California cities.”

“California has been a leader in assisting homeowners facing foreclosure and in reining in abusive practices following the collapse of the housing market, so I’m pleased to see the CFPB take these important steps,” Pérez said. “We know that the economic recovery of many states, including California, has a lot riding on stable housing markets and these new rules move us closer to that goal.”

According to the CFPB the new rules announced today include:

• Restricted Dual-Tracking: Under the CFPB’s new rules, dual-tracking – when the servicer moves forward with foreclosure while simultaneously working with the borrower to avoid foreclosure – is restricted. Servicers cannot start a foreclosure proceeding if a borrower has already submitted a complete application for a loan modification or other alternative to foreclosure, and that application is still pending review. To give borrowers reasonable time to submit such applications, servicers cannot make the first notice or filing required for the foreclosure process until a mortgage loan account is more than 120 days delinquent.

• Notification of Foreclosure Alternatives: Servicers must let borrowers know about their “loss mitigation options” to retain their home after borrowers have missed two consecutive payments. They must provide them a written notice that includes examples of options that might be available to them as alternatives to foreclosure and instructions for how to obtain more information.

• Direct and Ongoing Access to Servicing Personnel: Servicers must have policies and procedures in place to provide delinquent borrowers with direct, easy, ongoing access to employees responsible for helping them. These personnel are responsible for alerting borrowers to any missing information on their applications, telling borrowers about the status of any loss mitigation application, and making sure documents get to the right servicing personnel for processing.

• Fair Review Process: The servicer must consider all foreclosure alternatives available from the mortgage owners or investors – those with decision-making power over the loan – to help the borrower retain the home. These options can range from deferment of payments to loan modifications. And servicers can no longer steer borrowers to those options that are most financially favorable for the servicer.

• No Foreclosure Sale Until All Other Alternatives Considered: Servicers must consider and respond to a borrower’s application for a loan modification if it arrives at least 37 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale. If the servicer offers an alternative to foreclosure, they must give the borrower time to accept the offer before moving for foreclosure judgment or conducting a foreclosure sale. Servicers cannot foreclose on a property if the borrower and servicer have come to a loss mitigation agreement, unless the borrower fails to perform under that agreement.

• Clear Monthly Mortgage Statements: Servicers must provide regular statements which include: the amount and due date of the next payment; a breakdown of payments by principal, interest, fees, and escrow; and recent transaction activity.

• Early Warning Before Interest Rate Adjusts: Servicers must provide a disclosure before the first time the interest rate adjusts for most adjustable-rate mortgages. And they must provide disclosures before interest rate adjustments that result in a different payment amount.

• Options for Avoiding Costly “Force-Placed” Insurance: Servicers typically must make sure borrowers maintain property insurance and if the borrower does not, the servicer generally has the right to purchase it. The CFPB’s rules ensure consumers will not be surprised by this insurance, which often can be more expensive than the insurance borrowers buy on their own. The rules say servicers must provide more transparency in this process, including advance notice and pricing information before charging consumers. Servicers must also have a reasonable basis for concluding that a borrower lacks such insurance before purchasing a new policy. If servicers buy the insurance but receive evidence that it was not needed, they must terminate it within fifteen days and refund the premiums.

• Payments Promptly Credited: Servicers must credit a consumer’s account the date a payment is received. If the servicer places partial payments in a “suspense account,” once the amount in such an account equals a full payment, the servicer must credit it to the borrower’s account.

• Prompt Response to Requests for Payoff Balances: Servicers must generally provide a response to consumer requests for the payoff balances of their mortgage loans within seven business days of receiving a written request.

• Errors Corrected and Information Provided Quickly: Servicers must generally acknowledge receipt of written notices from consumers regarding certain errors or requesting information about their mortgage loans. Generally, within 30 days, the servicer must: correct the error and provide the information requested; conduct a reasonable investigation and inform the borrower why the error did not occur; or inform the borrower that the information requested is unavailable.

• Maintain Accurate and Accessible Documents and Information: Servicers must store borrower information in a way that allows it to be easily accessible. Servicers must also have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they can provide timely and accurate information to borrowers, investors, and in any foreclosure proceeding, the courts.

Speaker Pérez noted that the new federal rules are expected to complement the 2012 Homeowners Bill of Rights passed by the California Legislature, which has been called the most comprehensive homeowner protection act in the nation.

Arlington Heights Sports Park Field Dedication

RIVERSIDE - On Wednesday, January 23, the City of Riverside Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD) and American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) are hosting an athletic field dedication in Pete King’s name at Arlington Heights Sports Park located at 9401 Cleveland Avenue (Corner of Victoria Ave. and Gibson St.).

The ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. and will include a sign unveiling, AYSO Region 47- U10 exhibition game, and hot dog barbecue. Pete King was “Mr. Soccer” in the Inland Empire. He was an avid and indispensable contributor to Riverside soccer since moving to California in 1962. He spent over 30 years as the driving force behind the advancement of youth and adult soccer in Riverside. His biggest contribution was his life-long effort to build support for soccer in Riverside and the Inland Empire.

Thank you to Bob Buster, former 1st District Riverside County Supervisor for his monetary donation to assist in the production of the Pete King Field Dedication. His contribution will go toward signage, ceremony supplies and field incidentals. For information, please contact 951-826-2000.